Officially In Training

I've been warned by veteran Convention goers to wear comfortable shoes, carry as small a bag around as possible so as to cruise through the security lines, stay hydrated and to learn how to get by on 5 hours of sleep.

After many years of living in hotter latitudes, I have a vast array of fine water bottles, and never leave home without one. So staying hydrated is not a problem. 

Shoes, I live for comfy shoes. But I have been in need of a comfy pair of sandals. It will be Labor Day weekend in Charlotte when I arrive, so sandals will be appropriate. It's still hot in the south. I can check off that little item. I found some lovely blue (of course) Chacos on sale at Sierra Trading Post. They look fabulous with my blue nail polish, and I walked around and stood in them Saturday from 7:30 am until 11:00 pm. PERFECT!!

This was also an exercise in going full throttle all day. After coffee and some breakfast, I loaded up the Subaru with six cases of water, 14 packages of Costco Polish Dogs in a cooler, 11 multipacks of sandwich rolls, 6 huge bags of kettle chips, condiments, napkins, and a cooler full of bagged ice, then unloaded them at Katina's for food vending at the Art and Wine Fusion. I then went home and loaded up an EZ Up tent, two jugs of iced beverages, two folding tables, a big giant rubbermaid box of 'stuff', three folding chairs, a cooler of watermelon, and multiple candidate signs, and drove them to Rheingarten Park for the LD14 Democrats Picnic. We were all set up when the first guests from out of town (Yakima) arrived promptly at 11. The festivities ended at 2.

We packed it all back up, adding two big boxes of NEW candidate signs and posts. I took it home, unloaded all but the tent, and folding tables, and returned to Katina's. Unloaded it all, then spent the next 7 hours either selling dogs or pouring wine samples with a few of my favorite fellow travelers. We were at the Cafe on the right of this photo (thanks, Darlisa Black), as kid parade rolls.

Then we packed it all up again, and I headed the Suby back to the barn...and to feed my poor dog, who probably would have thought we forgot her, but lucky for us, a little bit of doggie dementia can be a blessing. I fed her, unloaded the coolers with food, washed them out, then sat down with a big glass of wine and put my feet up at about 11 pm. Never drank much of the wine, answered a few emails, and went to bed at midnight. I didn't even hear Lloyd, who was running the show at the Art and Wine Fusion, get in at 1. He said he thought the shower would wake me up. Normally yes. But not that night.

I felt great the next day, which was a good thing...I still had to unload the rest of the car and put everything away. It's amazing how much can fit into a Subaru Outback. But now I need to work on the getting by with 5 hours of sleep thing. Maybe I'll just stay well rested and go for broke when I get there. They must have good coffee in Charlotte...maybe just not a drive through on every corner. But that's OK, I'll be WALKING!

This is how we roll in retirement.